Last weekend the NL crit series went back again to Haarlem, the place where they organised their first ever crit. There’s always a good vibe on the fast parcours and it wasn’t any different this year.
Text: Merlijn Spenkelink & Brian Megens
Photography: Merlijn Spenkelink & Sjoerd van ‘t Hul
In the Men’s A race there was quite a strong field lining up. After Jan-Willem Groeneveld took the first prime it were Brian Megens, Kaj Verhaegh, and Luc Ducrot who attempted a break-away. The peloton did not let them go and half-way the race the big bunch was together. It was Jan-Willem Groeneveld who also took the mid-prime. With all primes done it was Brian Megens who attacked and managed to take quite a gap. Several riders tried to bridge the gap alone but neither succeeded. Nevertheless, also Brian’s attack was neutralised with 5 laps to go. A lap and a half before the finish it was Bob Wubben who surprised the field an distanced himself from the rest, but several riders in the bunch had their mind set on a sprint and also Bob couldn’t hold off the peloton. In the bunch sprint it was David van Eerd who was the fastest followed by Edwin van Kerkhof and Cornelius Kersten.
As always there was a big group at the start of the men’s B race with some new faces as well. Because of the second lap prime the first two rounds were fast, and Merlijn Spenkelink grabbed the prime just in front of Mark den Bakker. With the pace set lots of people were dropping from the back of the peloton, creating a group of around 20 riders pretty fast. Halfway Robert Haaijema decided it was time to attack and managed to get an 8 second gap on his own. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough on the windy parcours, and with a couple of laps to go everything was back together. During the final laps there were lots of attacks, but no one could create a big enough gap. In the final lap it was Merlijn Spenkelink who came sprinting out of the final corner in pole position, but Ivan Cook, in his first ever fixed gear crit, outsprinted him in the final straight and won. Daan Selters took the third place and also his first podium spot!
In the women’s race only 2 women lined up. Lisa Wörner started as the big favourite, and she confirmed this status by taking the win. She managed to stay in the front group of the men’s B the entire race and could even attack in the final laps! She eventually took the win with a big gap on the number two, Susanne Bakkenist.
Podium Mens’s A
1. David van Eerd – Team WIT
2. Edwin van Kerkhof – Team FAST
3. Cornelius Kersten – Team WIT
Podium Mens’s B
1. Ivan Cook
2. Merlijn Spenkelink – Spacemonkey
3. Daan Salters
Podium Womens’s
1.Lisa Wörner – Aventon Factory Team
2.Susanne Bakkenist – Spacemonkey
